Mass Murdering Cult Leader Charles Manson Dead At 83

Who is Charles Manson? The cult leader behind seven murders has died at age 83.

Wonder who Charles Manson is? According to a press release from the California Department of Corrections, Charles Manson, the cult leader behind a murder spree in 1969, has died Sunday at the age of 83 of natural causes.

Manson is considered to be one of the most infamous murderers in modern time.

pinterest.com

Members of Charles Manson's cult, known as the Manson Family, brutally slaughtered five people, including actress Sharon Tate, who was pregnant.

The crime occurred over a two day period in Sharon Tate's home, which she shared with director Roman Polanski, who was working in Europe at the time, in August 1969.

Tate, who was two weeks out from giving birth, was stabbed 16 times. Her guests in the home, Jay Sebring, a hairstylist, screenwriter Wojciech Frykowski, Frykowski's girlfriend and heiress to the Folger coffee fortune, Abigail Folger, were also stabbed multiple times by Manson's followers and died of their wounds. A friend of Tate's groundskeeper, who was leaving the property, was also murdered.

While Manson was not present for the murders, his followers, Tex Watson, Susan Atkins, Linda Kasabian, and Patricia Krenwinkel, followed his orders to murder anyone at the residence "as gruesome as" they could.

Tate and Polanski's home was previously rented by record producer Terry Melcher. Manson, an once aspiring musician, was possibly seeking revenge against Melcher for snubbing him and his career.

The night after these murders, Manson's followers stabbed a grocer and his wife, Leno and Rosemary LaBianca.

pinterest.com

Charles Manson hoped to start an apocalyptic race war called "Helter Skelter," named after a Beatles song.

Manson was inspired by anti-authoritarianism, hippie culture, Scientology, the Biblical end times, and Hitler's writings. He and his followers believed that these murders would hasten the coming of the race war "Helter Skelter."

How Long Was Charles Manson In Jail?

Manson and his followers were convicted of murder and sentenced to death. However, before the death penalty could be carried out, the California Supreme Court ruled the death penalty to be illegal. Manson spent the rest of his life in prison, he was denied parole 12 times, for the rest of his life. Manson was in jail for four decades.

He maintained that he didn't commit the murders and that he felt no guilt.